Indian Springs Trace Fossil Natural Area is a 40-acre privately owned site on the Indian Springs Ranch in Fremont County,

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. It was designated a

National Natural Landmark The National Natural Landmarks (NNL) Program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only national natural areas program that identifies and recognizes the best e ...

in 1980.

Overview

There are 25 types of

trace fossil A trace fossil, also called an ichnofossil (; ), is a fossil record of biological activity by lifeforms, but not the preserved remains of the organism itself. Trace fossils contrast with body fossils, which are the fossilized remains of part ...

s of

horseshoe crab Horseshoe crabs are arthropods of the family Limulidae and the only surviving xiphosurans. Despite their name, they are not true crabs or even crustaceans; they are chelicerates, more closely related to arachnids like spiders, ticks, and scor ...

brachiopods Brachiopods (), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear end, while the fron ...

trilobites Trilobites (; meaning "three-lobed entities") are extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. One of the earliest groups of arthropods to appear in the fossil record, trilobites were among the most successful of all early animals, ...

and pawless armor-plated fish that lived 450 million years ago in a lagoon. The fossils are set in rock of Harding Formation. It is considered North America's best site of trace fossils because it shows the movement of the ancient animals. Tracks left by the animals walking, swimming and burrowing in what had been a tidal lagoon's mudflat. The site is located along the Gold Belt Byway on the grounds of the Indians Springs Campground. Owners conduct tours of the fossil site.

Fossil sites

The National Park Service has several sites across the country that protect fossils, which includes trace, plant, vertebrate and invertebrate fossils. The sites are protected for their educational and scientific value. Other sites in Colorado include the

Dinosaur National Monument Dinosaur National Monument is an American national monument located on the southeast flank of the Uinta Mountains on the border between Colorado and Utah at the confluence of the Green River (Colorado River tributary), Green and Yampa River, Y ...

and

Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument The Florissant Formation is a sedimentary geologic formation outcropping around Florissant, Teller County, Colorado. The formation is noted for the abundant and exceptionally preserved insect and plant fossils that are found in the mudstones an ...

Colorado Natural Area

It is a designated area under the

Colorado Natural Areas Program The U.S. State of Colorado has designated 96 natural areas of the state for special protection, as of 2023. The Colorado Natural Areas Program was established in 1977 to preserve and protect special areas of the state with distinctive flora, faun ...

because there are 25 different types of trace fossils from crabs to fish and trilobites from the

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era, and the second of twelve periods of the Phanerozoic Eon (geology), Eon. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years f ...

Period. There are 93 designated sites that in total protect more than 250 endangered, rare, or threatened species.

Notes

References

External links

* {{authority control Landmarks in Colorado National Natural Landmarks in Colorado Paleontology in Colorado Protected areas of Fremont County, Colorado Paleozoic paleontological sites of North America Fossil parks in the United States Ordovician paleontological sites